Weekend Away in Ireland

When I got back from the States after Christmas, I committed to myself that I’d spend some time “settling” into London life. When the travel bug bites you, it is quite easy to get carried away. I mean this quite literally; from July to December last year I was in a different country each month (Canada in April, too; then Brazil in July and August, Iceland in September, Spain in October, Germany and France in November and home to the States in December).

While I’m the first, middle and last proponent of going where the wind blows you, it can get a) addictive and b) disruptive if, for instance, you have rent to pay, deadlines to meet and money to make, like I do. Therefore, I made a “resolution,” if it can be called that, to stick around London for a bit and get things in order.

Obviously, it was only a few days before I started getting itchy feet. But I made it through to mid-March, at which time the best reason to travel came up: my best friend’s wedding.

From the minute I met LuZell in 7th grade, we were inseparable. That isn’t an overstatement. From ridiculous obsessions with different bands to watching 10 Things I Hate About You 100 times (I can still quote the entire movie), we were a unique brand of teenager that understood each other- and no one else. So what better reason to celebrate than her finding someone amazing who loves her so much!?

Weddings can be big, glam productions worthy of Page Six ads, or they can be small, intimate affairs with the few people who matter most (and who you feel 100% comfortable crying throughout the entire ceremony in front of). This one was the latter, so I’ll keep all the wedding pictures and tales to myself and focus on Ireland itself!

The day before the wedding ColZell and LuZell (I nickname everyone amazing in my life, if you can’t tell) took me to Blarney. The castle is the main event, but the grounds were just as amazing.

The sun was shining, so we took our time walking around before turning our attention to the castle.

Once we got to the castle, I (hopefully) got a bump of good luck by pulling myself up 1 million stairs (or so it seemed) to kiss the stone.

I’ll suspend belief about superstition and wishes, but at least I got a super good back stretch. The view from the top was pretty excellent, too, and well worth the hike up the stairs.

…and how else to follow up kissing the Blarney Stone for general good luck than by walking up and down (backwards) the darkest, dingiest and most dangerous Wishing Steps with your eyes closed?! Let’s hope my wish comes true, I earned it!

Fast foward to the day after the wedding, during which I was regrettably confined to bed. Luckily, my last day I rallied enough to explore Cork City a bit.